Ottawa Orders Licensing Scheme for Port Truckers

OTTAWA - Aug 8/05 - SNS -- The Canadian government has approved further action under Section 47 of the Canada Transportation Act, clearly directing the Vancouver Port Authority to follow through with its system of licensing for the delivery, pick-up or movement of containers at the port.

The minister said this amendment provides further certainty for the port by directing it to prohibit access to those not complying with the licensing conditions.

Similar directions have been issued to the Fraser River Port Authority, thereby making clear the government's commitment to regularize the movement of containers through ports in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia.

The amendment imposes strict conditions on licensing systems at the two ports. It requires that licence applicants are signatories to the Memorandum of Agreement Between the Container and Trucking Companies and the Vancouver Container Truckers Association, dated July 29, 2005, and that they accept the dispute resolution process outlined in the memorandum of agreement. The governor-in-council has authorized the Vancouver Port Authority and the Fraser River Port Authority to prohibit access to those who do not meet these conditions.

The Government of Canada, together with the Province of British Columbia, appointed facilitator Vince Ready on June 30, 2005, in an effort to find an acceptable compromise between both parties and help end the trucking dispute. Further into the mediation, the federal Cabinet approved action under Section 47 of the Canada Transportation Act, which establishes a special and time-limited opportunity of 90 days for the parties and other interested groups to discuss and develop an agreement without risking violation of the Competition Act.

The Minister of Transport, in collaboration with the Federal Ministers of Labour and Industry and the Province of British Columbia, will establish a task force to review transportation and industrial relations issues underlying this dispute.